The Diaries of Ralph Leland Goodrich, 1859-1867

September 1, 1860

In morning, went over to Major Ward’s to get a horse to go to [Tallahassee]. Gave the letter [addressed] to Judge Steele of Cedar Keys for Wesley to give to the conductor. Yesterday, Governor Brown gave me a letter to him & also a stamp. Had quite a talk with the girls [before going to town]. Went up [to Tallahassee] on the racer. Got a translation of Cicero & a text book. Got mail for Major Ward. [Received a] letter from [cousin] Lucy Stratton & one from [cousin] Annie Fiddis. Got home about half past one. After dinner, went hunting with George Footman. Mr. Footman gave me an alligator’s tush. Saw an alligator – nothing but the head. I shot 3 birds & a [water] moccasin which came within an ace of biting me. Helped kill a grey squirrel which I took home. Evening, at tea. Sallie Ward here [and] I went home with her. We had some talk about a bouquet which Carrie [Adams] gave me & Sallie wanted. Party here. I went in. Sallie [Ward] asked me if I danced. I said no. She asked would I dance with her? I said I did not like to refuse, but I must. Took a walk on the track with Miss Mag [Brown]. Feel tired out.

September 2, 1860

At home all day. Feeling badly. Read & studied at Sunday school. Mattie Ward let a poop in school. Sallie [Ward] rather cool to me. Willie Randolph is sick. So is Annie Ward. Everyone says that Annie & Willie Randolph like each other & then I hope so. In that case, I can’t be envious. Though there [is] a great change in my feelings, I understand them better. They are not what I thought. Sallie [Ward] can be very good when none of the Randolph’s or Croom’s are near. But when they are, her conduct is not much better than the Adams’s. Just so with Annie [Ward].  

Evening, attended church. Mrs. Adams went. Talked with Mr. [William J.] Ellis. I expect to have a slim school tomorrow. Saw yesterday the advertisement Major Ward put in the paper for me. Rather good. I have no high opinion of Florida people in manners. If we could read the hearts of the people, we would find a most damnable picture. There is not one particle of good breeding or manners. Major Ward’s family are intelligent but their excessive vanity is not in them a pardonable vice.

September 3, 1860

In school. Had the boys write compositions who were not there [last week]. Dull times. Took a walk on the railroad. Said in the evening here that none of the young ladies liked me very well. Went over to Major Ward’s for awhile. Annie sick abed. Helped the children [with their studies].

September 4, 1860

In school. They didn’t get there until almost nine [so I] scolded them. Major [Ward] came today. Sick today. Sallie Ward does not know half as much as I thought. George & Mattie [Ward] are dull. Took a walk on the track. Helped the girls [with their studies].

September 5, 1860

In school. Family joking to me & said it was easy for me to get a plantation & negroes by taking one of the Wards [as a wife]. At the table I told them some of my feelings & spoke against them pretty strongly because they had been insulting to me, which pleased them all. Mrs. Adams and the girls said they had acted badly to me & she said she knew I was putting up with a good deal. She said the Ward girls had not been as lady-like to me as they should be; that they had done many impudent things. The girls said they heard that I was smitten with Annie Ward. It was Sallie Chaires who said it. Heard today that they had secured a gentleman [to teach this school] for $900 a year. From what they said here, I infer that the Wards do not think anything of me nor even respect me. So be it. Received a letter from Handerson & from [my sister Augusta in] Kansas Territory.

September 6, 1860

In school. Annie Ward came out of the class in Virgil & came up to me & wanted me to read some to her just before she commenced [to] translate. Bored her some in the class. In the arithmetic class, she vexed me by laughing [so I] scolded her some. Evening, while I was out, she & Bettie Randolph came here to enquire what ‘hen hussy’ meant – a word that I used in the class & set them to laughing. Lay on the bed & went to sleep [but] left the candle [lit]. Did not wake up until the candle was almost out about 3 o’clock.

September 7, 1860

In school. Annie Ward seemed very pleasant this morning. The girls – Carrie and Drucilla [Adams] – went off today to be gone for a week. Had a long talk with Mrs. Adams this evening. She accidentally let a fart. I succeeded in keeping my face straight. She said that last summer, Annie Ward was completely carried away with Willie Randolph. She had high times with him & the house servants did not like it particularly. [Her] Aunt Ellen asked [her], “Do you intend to marry that fellow? What is he? And why do you conduct yourself so shamefully?” Annie was raving against Ellen & cut up in pieces a dress which her Aunt Gamble had given Ellen. If that is her disposition, she is mean. Last night the reading class was over to Mag Brown’s. Mag was playing at the piano & singing. I wish he was a fool. Annie told her to say it to Willie Randolph whereupon she did.

September 8, 1860

At home all day. Wrote a letter home. Read & studied. Commenced Bourrienne’s Life of Napoleon.

September 9, 1860

At home all [day] reading.  Napoleon was decidedly a remarkable man. He had energy of will. He formed lofty & complicated schemes but had the activity and energy to execute them. At Sunday school, had a short talk with Mag [Brown]. Last night, had a party at Chaires – was not invited. I have a great deal to accomplish to be an ordinary man, but I shall try to cultivate an indomitable will and energy to compensate for the lack of natural gifts. If the times make the man, I want to so educate myself that I can act in them. I want thus accuracy and quickness of judgment. I must understand history and biography, especially of those times which have covered the pages of history with historic deeds and great revolutions; of biography of those men whose names are indelibly painted on the record of their times. I must study oratory if I can possibly attain to it.

September 10, 1860

In school. Had a short talk with Annie Ward. Hard work tonight. Mrs. Adams brought me an album which Carrie had sent me on the bet we made. A new scholar [in school today]. [Worth] Taliaferro has left – gone to Kentucky. Studying till 12.

September 11, 1860

In school. Mattie [Ward] brought me 3 letters; one from home, one from the New York fellows, and one from [Victor E.] Manget [who] wrote to me of a place in Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida. Taught till 12, [then] dismissed [the students]. Studied, read & wrote.

September 12, 1860

Billy Denham came over this morning early & said that an alligator was on the railroad. It had come out in search of water. It measured about seven feet. One eye was shot out. They have two scent bags like musk under the jaw which they throw out – almost suffocating. Took it to the school house. Afternoon, killed it [and] got the skin of the leg. Commenced Cicero today. Took a walk on the track. Coming up, met Annie Ward. Walked to the house with her. Said she would like me to come over & help her. Read her Cicero. Major Ward [was] not there [but] came after awhile. Staid till after ten.  

Last night the servants here had quite a fright. It rained yesterday & was quite a dark night. The fire on Major Ward’s stand [1] shone directly through our back door & on the front doors so that when one entered the back door, his shadow was dimly yet visibly marked on the front doors. It would make a ghostly figure. [When] Aunt Charity came in, she thought someone was there [in the house]. After lighting a candle, she saw that the doors [were] shut & bolted [so] she gave the alarm & said someone was in the house. [She] called me in great fright [and] said someone had come in and went into the parlor. I went in with the candle, the darkies trembling behind me [but] saw nothing. [Then I] went to the door, unbolted it and looked out [but there was] nothing to be seen. When she saw the door was bolted, she burst out, “It must have been a ghost,” and their fright exceeded anything I can describe. I made enquiries, told her to remove the light & I would see what it was. [When] I went out of the back steps & came up and looked to the door, I could have sworn that someone was standing in the front door – ghostly and sickly. I saw in a moment what had frightened her. I called her to come in the room without the light [whereupon] she saw the shadow & screamed [till] I told her the cause. The mystery was solved.

September 13, 1860

In school. Scholars demanding a vacation. Called on Governor [Thomas] Brown. Out patrolling [2] in evening till after twelve. Tom Maxwell told me that he had a conversation with Major Ward and Ward told him that he had succeeded in getting another teacher. If that be true, I cannot account for Ward’s duplicity. He is base. Maxwell said he thought Ward was laboring for the [U. S.] Senate.

September 14, 1860

Tired & sleepy. In school. Presented me with petition to give vacation written by Annie Ward in a kind of insulting way. Afternoon, Tom Chaires said that his mother said that he need not speak and he was not going to. I made him read out of the spelling book. He was impudent. I asked him the reason of his not speaking. He said that his mother said he need not do either to be laughed at, and he was not either. I knew I had not given him any such reasons & I got up to switch him. I touched him a little [but] he sprang up & grasped my whip & broke. I told him to let go [but] he would not. I raised my hand to hit him [but] he warded off the blow, slipped & fell on the floor. [He] jumped up & ran away. After he got from the school house, he uttered a great many imprecations which I could not hear & went home. I finished my duties shortly after & closed school. After I had got home a few minutes, Sallie Chaires came in hot haste greatly excited & withal very disrespectful & demanded what I had been doing to Tom. She said I had nearly broken his thumb; that she had met Annie Ward & she said that Tom was perfectly right; [offered] some insulting remarks about the manners of the North which excited me though I endeavored to be as cool as possible. We were both excited though she enflamed me by her unlady-like manner. I told her that Annie Ward had a perfect right to her opinion but that did not influence me, nor was [I] to be judged by the scholars. We had a stormy time for about 15 minutes. We stood up in the hall all the time. I feel vexed that I got mad but I know I did right. Let them talk & wail if they will.

September 15, 1860

Got up late. Wrote an apology [3] to Sallie P. Chaires. She replied by saying that I needed no apology, that I said nothing more than I should say to her; rather testily written. [4] Reading all day. The girls here quite impossible, especially Drucilla [Adams]. Afternoon, George Ward brought me letters; one from Little Rock, Arkansas., one from Austin, & my recommendations. Evening, went over to Major Ward’s. Spoke about giving a vacation. [He] said I had better keep on. He said that he did not know that any teacher was engaged. He had not entered into any [alternative teaching] arrangements. Then [there] must be a lie somewhere. Mr. Tom Maxwell told me that Major Ward told him that he had engaged one to be here the 1st of October. How is it? He again reiterated his intentions of sending off his children [to school elsewhere].  

[Then Major Ward] talked on politics. He thought Lincoln would be elected. [He said] if he was South Carolina, [he] would be the first to act. She would secede & the rest [of the southern states] would follow. He thought we were in a very critical position. We were in the hall and some of the girls were in the parlor – I think Annie and Sallie. I could hear them whispering & drawing on the piano, but they came not out. Napoleon hated red hair. I must [too]. Major Ward is not such a great man as folks say he is. Put him by the side of Douglas & Seward or Sumner in the [U.S.] Senate, [and] they would eat him up though I believe he expects to get there. Did not stay long with him [for I] saw he was not anxious for me to remain long.

September 16, 1860

At home.  Reading at Sunday school; the Wards did not speak to me. Read awfully bad. Mr. [William J.] Ellis came in. Evening, at church. Wrote a letter to Mr. David R. Williams of Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida for a situation; also to Handerson. The Wards are mad with me. So be it. I am content.

September 17, 1860

Rainy day. In school. Wards’ very cold. Major Ward sent a letter [5] to me wishing I would drop Tom Chaires’s rebellion. George [Ward] said at school that his father said that if he was flogged for that reason, he might run away [too]. Heard that Dick Parkill [6] was at Chaires’s Friday night & they told him of the occurrence & he swore he would shoot me & got up & started with the gun to come to me but they contradicted what they said & persuaded him not to. I wish he had come. Eb. Burroughs sent over to see if I could go over & play cards. Went over [and] staid till twelve.

September 18, 1860

Wards’ colder than ever. Took a walk over to Burrough’s. Playing cards. Reading. I do not know what to do if I do not soon hear of a place. I am in a deplorable state of uncertainty and doubt. I hope God will assist me. In Him I will trust.

September 19, 1860

In school. Annie Ward does not try to cover her ill will to me. I try all I can do in the class to worry her & puzzle her. Today at dinner, I ate a green pepper. It was so strong that it made the tears come. I told them here it made the tears come [and] they said something about telling at the school [that] I was crying. I told them to, they did, and when Annie Ward came this afternoon, I thought Annie Chaires told her for I heard her say ‘crying,’ and Annie whispered so that I could hear her I wish he would kill himself or was dead. I looked at her for a minute. She is the meanest bitch I ever came across. Her eyes are about as white as her face – as grey as can be. She takes no occasion to hide her ill feelings, nor do any of the family.  

Evening, went over to Burrough’s & played cards. Took a walk on the track with Eb [Burroughs] & Tom Footman. At prayer meeting. I think Annie Ward is mad about her parasol which she threw away tonight when she & Annie Chaires & Willie Randolph were fooling [around].

September 20, 1860

In school. Evening, over to Burrough’s. Went out patrolling. Mr. [George] Galphin [7] says I was right in the Tom Chaires affair & he said he would have flogged Tom in the face of the trustees.

September 21, 1860

Cold. At breakfast took a half tumbler of whiskey. Today [is the] last [day] of school. I felt sick this morning with the chill & took the whiskey to help me. At dinner, I took a little more & made me tight. I felt sick and spewed in school far out of the window. I think no one knew the matter. I made a speech…  

Sue Archer presented me with a neck-tie. Party here [at the Adams’s]. [I] went in. The boys seem to think something of me. Sallie Chaires was here but did not speak to me. Dick Parkhill asked to be introduced to me. I said I was happy to make his acquaintance under the circumstances. He is the one that threatened to hurt me & started [for his] gun to come over [before he was stopped]. William Denham said that his [20 year-old] brother Andrew got a little young one by fiddling around [with] a girl in Tallahassee.

September 22, 1860

At home. Major Ward called on me in the morning & wanted me to make out a list of the scholars & their studies. Did so. Read and called on Governor Brown. Had a long talk with him. He does not believe that one state has a right to secede [from the Union]. Received four letters and a paper; one from Manget, one from the Bishop of Arkansas, one from a teacher in Little Rock offering me a situation, [and] one from Judge Steele of Cedar Keys. [8] Went over to Major Ward’s. did not see the girls. Went out with the boys on a possum hunt [but] did not catch anything.

September 23, 1860

Sunday. Took a walk with Carrie [Adams] and Jinnie Taylor. Wrote a letter home & one to Little Rock accepting the offer. Finished [reading] Napoleon. At Sunday school. At meeting, evening. Mrs. Adams wants me to [help] them.

September 24, 1860

Sent Major Ward my letters [to be mailed]. Commenced packing my trunk. Afternoon, Frank Maxwell came & wanted me to go over to Burroughs. Max[well] Galphin & I got pretty tight. Frank & Tom Chaires said they would go up with me to hear Governor [Thomas] Brown. Took a walk on the railroad talking politics. George [Ward] came over with a horse. [We] all went up together; had quite a race. Caught up with the carriage at Craig’s. In [the] carriage were Major [Ward], Annie, [Willie] Randolph & Sallie Chaires. We all went together. Major Ward made a short speech in presenting a flag to the cadets. [It was] nothing extra[ordinary]. Governor Brown spoke very well, but is feeble. Came down as we went up. The girls did not speak to me. We took a race from Croom’s over to Ward’s. I came out ahead…

September 25, 1860

At home reading Jack Hinton, [the Guardsman]. Evening, went over to Tom Maxwell’s. His wife told me that Annie Ward said I was her favorite & she felt vexed. If Annie told her that, I am sorry for her. Played cards with them until about eleven.

September 26, 1860

Reading. In morning, Major Ward came over & talked about the school. He said my academy was going to charge me twenty dollars a month for board. It is outrageous, but can’t be helped. At church. Went on patrol.

September 27, 1860

Finished reading Jack Hinton [the Guardsman]. Evening, went over to Governor [Thomas] Brown’s [and] told him I was going to Arkansas. [He] said the best way was to go by New Orleans. I have almost concluded to follow his advice if I can get off at the right time. [We spent time] talking about the country; [in particular,] about the Wakulla Springs. The water bursts up out of a hill & forms a round spring of about one hundred yards in diameter. The sides extend perpendicularly down for about 160 feet in some places. The water is as clear as crystal & a five cent piece can be distinguished as plainly at the bottom as in your hand. On one side at the bottom appears an arch of about 20 feet in height out of which the [waters] pour, but the depth is so great there is no perceptible motion to the water. There is such a buoyancy in it that a man would hardly sink. Large fish are seen toward the bottom turning on their sides, displaying the colors of the rainbow. The sides are lined with trees. In this were found some of the bones of a mammoth larger than any heretofore found. This spring has some subterranean connection with some river or lake, probably Lake Jackson. These bones were probably washed out from the ground somewhere. It is a great curiosity, being situated so high that no water can run to it. It forms of itself the river. Thus is Florida sunk with holes & bored with innumerable passages.  

Florida is all of a late formation. The sand here is the marine sand. There is no silex in it. It cannot make glass. The rocks are of rotten limestone, formed of coral and shells conglomerate. There is no real limestone here. The whole of Florida seems to have been formed by the action of the sea & decomposition. In digging wells, in passing through the rotten limestone, shells are found – all modern; none that are ancient or fossil. [As for] the everglades, no one scarcely knows anything about them. Few have ever visited them & fewer still understand them. Down at the southern extremity of Florida, the coral reefs are formed by the action of the sea shells. And other matter are thrown up beyond the reefs on which soil accumulates. For several miles from the shore, this is the case until you come to the everglades when the water is several inches above the outer edge and around which is formed an embankment by the sea. Within this bank is the everglades, which looks like a vast prairie with here & there an island. The water varies from a few to 18 inches, & in some is 20 & more feet deep. This is covered with grass so that it gives the appearance of a prairie.  

The coral [is] formed by the action of the waves. The rim was formed about the everglades. Around some parts of the coast the water is shallow but between Key West and Cuba the sea is five miles deep. They do not raise sugar cane here to any great extent for the soil is not rich enough.

September 28, 1860

This morning [I] went over to Major Ward’s to see if I could get a horse to go to [Tallahassee]. His were all engaged. [In discussing my journey to Little Rock,] he advised me to go by New Orleans. [I] got one of Tom Maxwell’s [horses and] rode up [to Tallahassee] with Major Ward. He paid me $275. [I] said Mrs. Adams’s charge of $20 a month [for board] was outrageous. Purchased some things & came home. Got a letter from Mr. [William J.] Ellis, the minister. Paying my debts and packing. Wrote [a] letter to Manget, [to] Mr. [Francis W.] Eppes [at] Monticello, and home. Sent one to [Hiram] Beebe. Took them over to Mr. Denham’s [to be mailed]. In evening, met Miss Mag [Brown] on track. Went over to Major Ward’s [and] had a nice talk with him. He said the pic-nic today was gotten up for me, but I have not heard anything about it.  Dance here tonight; was not invited to it. Major Ward wants me to write him & he will give me the result of the election. He has hopes of getting to the Senate. I like him more & more. He is very kind. Tomorrow I start for my new home [in Arkansas]. Not as anxious as [when] I came here. The duties must be tried. The future will show.

September 29, 1860

In morning, packed trunk. Got a recommendation from Major Ward. Sallie, Annie, & Mattie Ward, Betty Douglas, & Ida Syfan came to see me off. All wrote in [my] album. Jinnie Taylor also wrote. When I bid them goodbye and was passing off the porch at Mrs. Adams’s, Sallie [Ward] made some motions – I think impudence. Waved handkerchief at me when cars passing. I felt like crying. Got into St. Mark’s about 12.  Got acquainted with Major Hayward [who is] going to the north of Louisiana. Went down the [St. Mark’s] River to the Steamboat in a little sail boat [which was] crammed. [The] steamboat [9] started about 3. Felt sick a little. Beautiful moonlight night. Considerable swell – boat rocked some on the wide ocean out of sight of land. It was beautiful; the dark blue of the sea shimmered over with the light of the moon the white crests of the waves.

September 30, 1860

Sunday. Did not sleep much. At Apalachicola [Florida] about half past nine. Anchored about 4 miles away. Cloudy and sea rolling high. Smoky, so I can’t see well. Four ships anchored near us, one Burman [with] colors flying. I am acquainted with Judy Brevard from Tallahassee going to Pensacola. [There are] a number of Cubans on board. They have sent off the sail boat to shore; I thought it would capsize. I have not felt seasick at all. Left Apalachicola about 3. Beautiful night. Major [Hayward] let me have some papers to read. Night, sick.

The Ralph Goodrich Collection is the property of the Arkansas History Commission.